A new 11-page report with updates on Galilee Memorial Gardens cemetery was just released this morning. See the full report at the link below. We will be following up with a story based on the report shortly.
Galilee hit the headlines in 2013 and 2014 over allegations of land theft to bury bodies, multiple bodies being buried in the same spot, and haphazard or missing records about where bodies were placed. In March, owner Jemar Lambert pleaded guilty in a deal that left him with 10 years’ probation. He still faces costly class-action civil lawsuits.
One of the responsibilities of the TDIC is the regulation of funeral home and cemetery practices. The TDIC successfully petitioned the Davidson County Chancery Court to close the cemetery in January 2014 and put it into receivership. “Receivership” means that the property is under someone’s official custody while legal issues are being sorted out. Memphis attorney David Kustoff was appointed as deputy receiver of the cemetery, making him the local person responsible for managing the business while it is under the court’s control.
